News Item

Limited Brands and Faith Mission Get a Head Start On Spring Cleaning

February 25, 2011

With the unbearable weather that has been hitting much of Central Ohio in the past few months, a lot of people have been lucky to turn up the heat and get warm under the blankets … but not everyone. The Community Shelter Board, which allocates resources to various homeless programs and services, reports that the need for additional support for our community’s homeless has risen more than 4,000 percent this winter.

This statistic is no doubt alarming and to Limited Brands it was a call to action that we could not ignore.

Limited Brands associates collected needed items for donation such as blankets, sheets and socks and transported them to Faith Mission, a basic-needs center and member of the Lutheran Social Services family.

Faith Mission’s priority is to provide food and emergency shelter to their clients. With all of the media coverage about the increasing needs to support the homeless in our community, Faith Mission received an abundance of donations that their facility wasn’t set up to handle.

“When we took the donations to Faith Mission, it was hard to navigate through the basement. We wanted to help organize, but it was going to take a lot longer than one afternoon,” mentioned one Limited Brands volunteer.

As a result, the group tapped into its logistics team for ideas on how to make the space more efficient.

Tim Gorringe and Thomas Rode of Limited Brands Logistics quickly offered their support to lead the initiative while leveraging other support from across the business.

“It is amazing to see how all these different groups have come together. Facilities, engineering, transportation and human resources have all volunteered to help out.” Rode said.

As several volunteers walked about the newly cleared and organized basement planning next steps, the Limited Brands facilities team was busy using power tools to fasten brackets for the new shelves.

Another energized volunteer shouted, “We love making laminated signs, we’ll make you as many laminated signs as you want. Men’s coats will go over here, and we’ll make a sign indicating that point exactly.”

Today, where piles of coats and bags once cluttered the space, there are hang-racks and shelving units with donations organized by size and gender.

With the improvements in the basement completed, there is a renewed sense of optimism and relief.

“We couldn’t have done it without Limited Brands,” Sue Villilo, executive director of Faith Mission said. “We are so thankful.”

Although the special task force has finished its project, Limited Brands will continue its monthly volunteer visits to help serve meals at Faith Mission.

“This experience has been overwhelming. It really does matter how we play the game.” Rode concluded.